Dir. M. Night Shyamalan

Starring Paul Giamatti, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jeffrey Wright, Cindy Cheung etc.

When Cleveland (Paul Giamatti) finds, Story ( Bryce Dallas Howard ) a sea-nymph right out of a bedtime tale, in the pool of the apartment building he is a concierge of, he tries to help her accomplish the mission she has here on land.

Warning: Spoilers in the following paragraph

To help her, he must gather a writer, a guardian, a healer, a translator and a guild to help and protect her from a monster that will try to stop her from being freed. To do so, he asks for help from several tenants of the apartment building that he believes they could be and they gladly all come to his aid.

What is wonderful about this movie, is it’s the kind of thing we would all like to be in the position of doing. Being involved in something magical, mystical and much bigger than ourselves and knowing it’s for the good of all mankind. Here, we are rooting for Cleveland, a man who has lost his wife and children and who sees himself as a nobody. We are not sure how things will turn out but we learn that for the most part people are good and want to help and that even though we don’t always believe it, every one of us may have an important role to play here on earth.

I also appreciated that the movie (in one small scene) turns towards us, the audience, and laughs at itself and movies of this genre. It made me smile.

I enjoyed this movie; it made me root for the little guy and made me feel like, yes… everybody can be a hero.

This is Her review, you can read His review here

Keywords: Shyamalan, Paranormal, Meta

Dir. M. Night Shyamalan

Starring Paul Giamatti, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jeffrey Wright, Cindy Cheung etc.

What is it with Shyamalan that brings out the Siegel in every reviewer in the world? “Muddy Water“, “A Narf is a Narf, already!“, “Shyamalan’s Lady doesn’t hold water“, “Is Lady in the Water a floater?“, and enough similar passes on drowning to make you cough up seaweed. I bet people sat around thinking up “ironically applicable” titles for their reviews the minute this movie started production.

Well, I’m just gonna review this movie, ok? No agenda, no golden shower jokes.

Lady in the Water is the story of a superintendent (Giamatti) who has pretty much given up on himself. The apartment building where he works has a host of interesting characters, much like any place would, and it feels very familiar. It’s a well-defined slice of everyday life. One night he gets a visitor, the mysterious midnight pool intruder Story (Howard), who rekindles something inside him. He regains some of his lost sense of wonder, as he investigates who she could be and what the heck she’s doing in his apartment wearing nothing but one of his shirts.

This movie is Shyamalan spoofing himself in various ways, and it’s fun. If you enjoy movies, the way stories unfold in patterns and turns, you’ll probably enjoy this one. It’s a lot more mundane than his previous films, it’s as if there’s a big budget movie played out within a low budget one. I won’t mention anything about the ending. Is there a twist? Watch it and see. If you can watch a rom-com knowing exactly what’s gonna happen and like it, you can certainly watch a movie where you have no clue, and not feel too cheated.

This is His review, you can read Her review here

Keywords: Shyamalan, Paranormal, Meta